Fluffing up artificial staple fibers



May 13, 1947. N B @EER El- AL 2,420,367

FLUFFING UP ARTIFICIAL STAPLE FIBERS 1 Filed Nov. 9, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NORMA B. GEER. BY LOUIS V- SCHATZ.

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May 13, 1947., N. B. GEI-:R ET AL,

FLUFFING UP ARTIFICIAL STAPLE FIBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 9, 1943 INVENTORS NORMA B Geen. Lows w. scuA-rz.

Patented May 13,y 194'?y i FL'UFFIN G UP ARTIFICIAL STAPLE FIBERS Norma Blanche Geer, Los Angeles, Calif., and Louis William Schatz, South Tacoma, Wash., asslgnors toCelanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application November 9, 1943,seria1N6. 669,636

fiul up the same whereby they become more amenable to textile operations and more adaptable to certain uses. 2

2 claim. (ci. 19-96) u ods in the preparation of spun yarn. However,

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel process for opening and flufng up staple' fibers having a basis of artiflcial material.

Another object. of this invention is the provision of means for opening and fiuiling up artiilcial staple fibers in a simple, expeditious an economical manner. A further object of this invention is the provision of apparatus for opening and fiufllng up artificial staple ber and for iilling therewith pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like.

Still another object of this invention is to pro-.

vide a novel filling for pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like, which has many advantages over down-feathers, cotton and other fillings heretofore employed. i\

Other objects of thisl invention, together with certain details of construction and combinations of parts of apparatus, will appear from the followingdetailed description.

In the preparation of artificial staple liber, bundles of continuous filaments'are led to a cutting device where they are cut into shorter bundles. The apparent adhesion existing between the continuous artificial filaments also exists between the bers in the shorter bundles. The mass of fiber* produced by the cutting oi the bundles of continuous filaments contains a large proportion of bundles or pencils of fibers, necessitating further treatment of the mass of ber in order to make the fibers suitable for use in textile operations, such as, for instance, in the spinning of yarn therefrom. Further treatment is particularly necessary to make the staple fiber suitable for use as a substitute for down-feathers and like fillings in pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like. Many expedients have been employed for opening the bundles of fibers, substantially all using a fluid stream. While a stream of air or water assisted to some extent-,in separating the fibers, there was no iiuiiing up of the same.

We have now found that staple ber may not only be opened but also iiuiTed up by subjecting compact bundles thereof to the action of a rotary drum having on the surface thereof pins or nails and operating in a box or bin. In the opened and fiuffed up condition, the staple fibers are readily built up into a lap by the usual methit is of greater advantage as illling in'pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like. Accordingly, we provide means for taking the opened and flued up bers from the bin and for stuiI- ing the same into suitable fabric containers.

Cellulose derivative filaments or fibers, such as cellulose acetate ilaments or fibers, are particularly prone to electrication engendered by friction, such as the friction caused by the action of the pin-studded rotary drum in the fluffing bin in which it is contained. The static charge on the fibers causes them to cling tenaeiously to the bin walls thus preventing satisfactory operation of the apparatus. This diillculty is avoided by lining the fluiilng bin with sheeting of metal, such as copper, and suitably grounding the sheeting. This construction of the iiufng bin obviates the necessity of treating the fibers prior to the opening and iiuing up operation with an anti-static finish. However, an anti-static finish may be applied to the bundles of fibers if itis so desired. A suitable anti-static iinish comprises parts of diethylene glycol, 30 parts of water and 10 partsof magnesium chloride. Other anti-static nlshes may, of course, be employed. The finish is preferably applied to the filaments, in any suitable manner, prior to the cutting thereof into short or staple f lengths.

Figure 2 is a partial top plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, and n Figure 3 is a view of a sleeping bag in which the staple ber opened and ilufied up by the apparatus of our invention is adapted to be used as a filling.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral indicates a hopper for holding bundles or pencils of staple fibers 5 as received from a cutting machine, and for feeding them on to an endless belt S. For certain purposes, as will appear hereinafter, it is desirable to feed predetermined quantitles of staple bers and to this end the hopper 4 may be provided with an automatic weighing attachment which is more or less diagrammatically shown and generally indicated by reference numeral 'L ,pulley H and driven pulley I2. Access closed compartment l mounted on framework l of the apparatus, and is rotatably carried on idler to the-compartment by means of a trap-door I3 attached by means of hinges Il; The trap door may be provided with a handle or lmob il. To drive pulley I2 the shaft IB on which said pulley is mounted is provided with a. sprocket I1 which is connected by means of an articulated chain I8 to a sprocket i9 mounted on shaft 2l held in brackets 22 fixed to'frame 9. The shaft 2l also has fixed thereto a grooved pulley 23 which is connected to grooved pulley 24 on shaft 2li of 4motor 2G by means of a belt 21.

- The belt l conveys the bundles or pencils of nbers l to a chute 28 which leads them to the x nip of cooperating feed rollers 29 and-3l, preferably rubber covered. 'I'he feed rollers are supported in e. bracket 32 attached by bolts 33 to compartment 8. The upper feed roller 28 is vertically adjustable, whereby the nip between the feed rollers may be adjusted as desired, by means of a screw bolt 34 and is locked in adjusted position by means oi' a nut 35. The lower feedroller Il is posltivelyrotated from shaft Il by means of a sprocket wheel 36 fixed to said shaft which is connected to a sprocket wheel 31 on shaft 38 of the lower feed roller by an articulated chain 3l.

`IThe lower feed roller drives the Upper feed roller by means of countermeshing gears generally indicated by reference numeral 4 I The feed rollers 29 and 3| feed the bundles or ishad4 pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like. In Figure 3 a sleeping bag of the type to be illled with the artificial staple bers of our invention is shown. This bag, generally indicated by reference numeral i, comprises a series of tubes l2 each of which is separately filled with the flued up staple fiber. In making the sleeping bag the tubes are iixed at one end by stitching across one edge of the sleeping bag. These tubes are repeated. When all of pencils of fiber I into the path of s. picker cylinder or drum comprising pins or nails 42 mounted on the surface of a drum Il which is rotated by means of motor 28 through a grooved pulley 4l `fixed to the shaft 25 of said motor, a belt 45 and a grooved pulley B6 fixed to shaft I1 of the drum 43. The drum is substantially completely enclosedin abin I8. l

In mounting the pins or nails 42 on the drum surface, the pins or nails are first fixed in rubber coated canvas belting material and the belting cemented or otherwise attached to the drum surface. The pins or nails are preferably about 11/4 inches long and spaced 1 inch apart on the rows, the rows being arranged so that there is QQ of an inch between rows and each row offset 1/4 of an inch from the other rows.

Tha bundles or pencils oi fiber are opened and ilufiedup bythe rotation of the drum Il in the bin 48. Since cellulose derivative fibers are pronel to electricatlon engendered by the friction between the moving fibers, rotating drum 43, which preferably rotates at 400 R. P. and bin i8, the bin is lined with copper sheeting 4i, which sheeting is groundedby wires 5I attached to the sheeting and a suitable ground. The bin is provided with a glass trap door 52 so that the interior of the bin may be visible. The trap door is attached to the bin by a piano hinge 53 and is provided with a latch handle 54.

The opened and ilufl'ed up fibers B are removed from the bin I8 through a conduit 55 by means of a blower mechanism B6 which is operated by a motor 51 through a pulley and belt mechanism generally indicated by reference numeral 58. A flexible tube 59 oi any desired length is provided on the output end'of the blower Il for directing the opened and iiuiled up fiber into the desired receptacle. a

As heretofore stated, the opened and fluifed up fibers are particularly suitable for use as a substitute for down-feathers and other fillings in length of from l to 2% lled by inserting the flexible tube 5I into the closed end of the tube and then gradually .withdrawing the flexible tube 5l as the ilufi'ed up fiber fills the tube 62. Thus, the tube 62 is progressively filled in a substantially uniform manner. Preferably, a predetermined amount of fibers is placed in each tube. This predetermined amount is weighed by weighing means 1, dumped on feed belt l and opened and iluifed up by the fiumng means. When one tube l2 has been filled. another predetermined ainoimt is dumped on to tha/feeding belt and the process of illling the tube,

the tubes 62 of the sleeping bag have been filled, the open ends thereof are sealed manner.

While any suitable artificial fibers may be employed as the lling in pillows, comforters, sleeping bags and the like, we prefer to' use fibers havinga basis of an organic derivative of4 cellulose, such ascellulose esters and cellulose etherl. Examples of cellulose esters are cellulose acetate, cellulose butyrate and cellulose propionate, while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose.

The length of the. staple fiber employed is relatively important. While fairly satisfactory results have been achieved by employing liber of a inches and having a denier per filament of from 8 to 12, optimum results are obtained by employing cellulose acetate staple liber having a length of 1% inches and a denier per filament of 3. This fiber was found to fluff more uniformly than. the other fibers and filled the fabric containers more completely, particularly in the case of comforters and sleeping bags.

The use of staple fiber prepared in accordance with the present invention has many advantages satisfactory coverings for comforters and sleep..

ins bass are obtained by employing a fabric having a basis oi an organic derivative of celiule, particularly yarns made of laments or fibers of cellulose acetate. kA particularly satisfactory fabric to be used as a covering for comforters and sleeping bass is made by weaving in a taifeta weave a fabric wherein the warp yarns are denier and the weft yarn denier.

The opened and fluffed up artificial staple ber of the present invention has high insulating powers, retains moisture to a lesser extent than other fibers and is not deteriorated by salt air or other atmospheric conditions.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration andthat--many variations may be made i therein without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. Process for filling comforters, sleeping bags by stitching or in any other suitable and the like having a structure comprising aplurality of tubes, which comprises opening and riuiilng up a quantity of staple bers, having a basis of cellulose acetate, a length of 11/2 inches and a denier per fliament of 3, substantially sumcient to ll one of said tubes, while conducting away the electricity formed by said opening and uiTlng up operation and progressively i-lliing each tube with said quantity of opened and fluied up staple bers.

2. Apparatus for opening and flufng up staple bers, comprising a rotatable drum having a plurality of spaced metal points offset with respect to each other on the surface thereof, a housing for said drum, metal sheeting lining the interior of said drum housing, a. wire for grounding said metal sheeting, means, including an endless belt, a. hopper and an automatic weighing device, for feeding a predetermined quantity of staple bers to said points, and a blower for removing the opened and iluied up fibers from said housing.

NORMA BLANCHE GEER. LOUIS WILLIAM SCHATZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 827,604 Berry et ai July 31, 1906 989,349 Hampson L Apr. 11, 1911 10 881,445 Schoeld Mar. 10, 1908 2,090,752 Duncan Aug. 24, 1937 2,263,810 Leslie et a1 Nov. 25, 1941 101,218 Bliss Mar. 29, 1870 166,824 Teal Aug. 17, 1875 15 1,666,891 Donner Apr. 24, 1928 2,274,360 Conley 1 Feb. 24, 1942 2,047,214 McJoynt July 14, 1936 2,357,475 Kane Sept. 5, 1944 20 FOREIGN PAI'ENTS Number p Country Date 699 Great Britain 1878 18,132 Great Britain 1906 Denmark July 27, 1924 

